I bought my first apartment when interest rates were around 1% (the 2010s were wild). I paid 30% less every month to the bank than a comparable rent, utilities excluded in both.

On top of that, the payment was 40% interest and 60% went towards the principal, so basically investing.

To put it in numbers, imagine the apartment you like is 1000 euros a month in rent. You decide to buy. Now you pay 700 euros to the bank each month, of which 300 is interest and 400 is paying down the loan, so you will probably get it back if/when you sell it. You "lose" 300 euros am month instead of 1000.

Another example, buying a car to go to work (or any other tool). If you don't have cash but need a car, getting a loan and being able to work is better than not having debt but being unable to work.

Others have said it here better than I could, but I was the same way but for probably other reasons. My mother lost her home, not due to misfortune but because she couldn't manage her finances. Quick splurge items and random ideas too priority over long term stability. Anyway, so I thought mortgages and loans were scary too.

Then I got educated on them. They're not scary if you understand what you're doing. Loans are not scary, they are tools to achieve your goals. A tool can be extremely useful to accomplish your goal, but you also shouldn't reach for that tool every time either.

If your goal is to own your home, a mortgage is a great tool if you know what you're doing. Learning about interest rates, how they'll affect you, sitting down and looking at your long term finances and knowing what you can manage paying every month for the forseeable future is how you can calculate what works for you.

Where it gets scary is when people walk in, not knowing what they can afford and taking everything the bank will give them, not knowing how much they'll be paying over time. That's when things get predatory and scary. Knowledge is power as they say.

Now when I need a loan I go in, and I know what interest rate I want, what duration I want, and exactly how much I need, and the bank usually says yes. I've proven myself with my credit score to be a trustworthy person to lend to, and l can now usually get pretty decent terms.

Learn about finances, learn the math, and learn how you spend money. Once you get that knowledge it stops being so scary.

Think buying an apartment on credit vs renting it. The apartment bought on credit you'll eventually own, but not the rented one. So assuming you need an apartment, buying on credit can easily be the better decision.